


Warm

by cre8iveovadose



Series: Imagine Loki One-Shots [3]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Tumblr: imagine-loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 18:19:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17391299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cre8iveovadose/pseuds/cre8iveovadose
Summary: I remembered the swirl of blood down the drain. I remembered lying in bed trying to ignore the things I felt crawling across my skin. I remembered crying myself to sleep.





	Warm

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Imagine Loki prompt "Imagine the pain on Loki’s face when he learns you cried yourself to sleep last night." on tumblr.  
> This is just a little AU where Loki is on Midgard and in a semi-serious relationship with the POV character. Enjoy :)

The pillow was stuck to my face when I woke up. My nose was itchy and my eyes were dry and someone was knocking on my apartment door. Each rap was like thunder in my ears and my head throbbed with each beat. I peeled myself out of bed and tugged on a pair of pyjama pants. When I reached for the sweater balled up at the end of the bed, pain shot through my arm. I glanced down at it and saw the bandage around my wrist and sighed. Right.

“Let me in,” a voice droned through the door. “It’s freezing out here.”

Loki. Of course. Breakfast date. I bit the inside of my cheek and yanked on the sweater before hurrying over to the door.

“Finally,” Loki said as he barged in. His arms were loaded up with a bag and a tray from the coffee shop down the street. “I thought I’d have to blast my way in. Again.” He shot me a grin as he headed over to the counter.

“Yeah, ‘cause the door needs that.”

He didn’t hear me. My arm was throbbing along with my head now.

“I got us the pink doughnuts and something called a ‘pumpkin spice latte’. It’s new or seasonal or something and it sounds amazing.”

“Yeah, they’re good.” I lifted my arm from where it hung by my side and nursed it against my stomach. “I just need to wash my face.”

“Hurry back, love, or there might not be any latte left.”

I watched as he sunk onto the couch, coffee cup in hand before I ducked into the bathroom. I kept to the left side of the room, away from my towels, as I approached the sink and the mirror.

Peering into the glass, the night before started to claw its way out of the depths of my psyche. I remembered the spider I’d found on my bath towel. I remembered the sting of the blade against my arm. I remembered the swirl of blood down the drain. I remembered lying in bed trying to ignore the things I felt crawling across my skin. I remembered crying myself to sleep.

That explained the dryness in my eyes. That explained the itch around my nose. That explained why the idea of going out and talking to Loki was utterly draining.

And then there was my arm. I knew the pain would only be worse if I tried to take off the bandage. The sweater hid it sufficiently. I’d just have to be careful.

I washed my face and brushed my hair before I double-checked the positioning of my sleeve and plastered a smile on my face. It had disappeared by the time I opened the bathroom door.

Loki’s eyes were on me as soon as I stepped out. That piercing blue, steady and perceptive, followed me to the counter where I grabbed my coffee and the doughnuts before I crossed to my armchair. I sat down and curled up and sipped on my coffee and tried to ignore his unwavering gaze.

“Are you alright?” he asked, taking a sip of his latte.

“I’m fine,” I said with a fragile smile. “How’s the pumpkin spice?”

“It’s good,” he said with a nod. “It’s warming.”

“Always a pro for a frost giant.”

Loki smiled and nodded. “Always.”

We fell silent. I stared out the window at the grey day outside. Rain spattered against the glass and clouds swallowed the skyscrapers in the distance. My arm began to throb again, so loud I was sure it echoed around the apartment.

“How was your night?”

I rolled my head around to look at Loki and shrugged. “It was fine.” I felt the ghost of a spider on the back of my hand.

“Seems like everything’s fine.”

“It is.”

Loki leant forward and put his cup on the coffee table. “Then why are you white as a ghost and guarding your arm like a prized treasure?”

“I’m fine, Loki,” I groaned through gritted teeth.

“And I’m an exotic dancer from Vanaheim who paints portraits of bilgesnipe in his spare time.” I didn’t see him cross the room before he knelt in front of me with the wide eyes I knew he saved for when he wanted the truth. “What’s going on? Have I done something?”

I stared at the arm of the couch when tears prickled in my eyes. “No.”

“Talk to me, love. Was it the snakes again?”

I shook my head and felt the ache sprout in my chest. “It was the spiders this time. I found one in the bathroom when I went to shower last night.”

He touched my hand. “Do you need me to get rid of it?”

“No, I got it with the empty shampoo bottle.”

“But the visions stayed?”

I nodded and with my next blink, tears spilt down my cheeks. Loki took my coffee cup before trying to embrace me but I pressed a hand to his chest and he froze.

“Please don’t,” I whispered.

“Why?”

I bit my lip before I looked into his eyes. “It hurts.”

“What does?”

I lifted my aching arm a little. “I couldn’t stop myself. There were so many spiders and they wouldn’t leave me alone. I had to get them away from me.” My breath hitched. “And now I’m crying again like I did last night because that’s the only way I could get to sleep.”

I pulled back my hand, expecting him to pull me into his arms or gather me up and carry me back to bed, but Loki didn’t move. I wiped at the tears and looked up to see him staring back at me, pain frozen on his face.

His brow pulled together and his thin lips were stiff with the hard set of his jaw. His eyes bore into me but he didn’t see me. His blue eyes just stared and brimmed with tears of his own.

“Loki?”

His breath shuddered and he wiped at his cheeks to hide his tears before he laid his hands on my knees. “You call me, alright? If that ever happens again, I want you to call me.”

I shook my head and tried to refuse but he reached out and touched my cheek.

“No, please, don’t argue. I know it’s hard. But if there is ever anything I can do to make this easier, I want you to let me try. That’s what I’m here for, love. That’s why I’m here.”

I shuffled forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt him press a kiss to my forehead as he returned the embrace. The warmth of his body never failed to surprise me and I snuggled in closer as he rubbed my back. He might not always be able to stop the spiders or the snakes but he could always warm me up afterwards.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :) Kudos and comments keep me sane ^.^ - Em xoxo


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